The Long-Awaited-For-Post . . .

BILL RICE RANCH, FAMILY WEEK, 2013

   Well, I waited to get Gram's pictures to go along with what we had, and now I'm like, Wow there's a LOT of pictures here! =) Sorry, hope you all don't get bored with this extremely long post.

   We spent part of the weekend before family week at Melinda & Andrew's, since their place is a little less than halfway to the Ranch, and left there right after the Sunday morning service.

   The trip was going fine until Mom (who was sitting in the back seat because I was driving) noticed that the seat seemed to be getting rather hot and something smelled burnt. We pulled over at a gas station to check out the problem. Long story short, we ended up going to Advanced Auto to have them look at it, and we were told that the alternator needed replaced. Thankfully, Dad was able to do it himself and had the tools that he needed. On top of that, several people had earlier given us money, and it completely covered the cost of the new alternator! Where He guides, He provides!! 

Oh, did I mention that all this was happening in the rain??

   Where were quite later than we had planned, but we finally made it to the Ranch in time for the evening service. Our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins from Mom's side of the family were all able to come this year, so it was like a family reunion!

(the little guy at the end is our cousin, Micah)

Cowboy Town

Dee, Uncle Tom, Cassie, Uncle Tim, Aunt Jeryl

Get that ball!

Aunt Jane playing Corn Hole

Playing Knockout

Pap and Micah getting ready to get on the Bungee Run

As Pap handed Aunt Jeryl his glasses and hearing aides, she asked, "Am I going
to get the teeth too?"  LOL

Pap on the Bungee Run

Daniel getting ready for the Obstacle Course

Mom playing torpedo ball

Cousin Lincoln

Daniel with his new-found friend, Miss Harmony

Me and Court

Cassie and Andrew

cousin Micah

Playing softball: Dad pitching

Micah and Uncle Tom

Meal Time

the kids table

Andrew, Micah, and Daniel

Dee Dee, Gram, and Caleb (our cousin)

Cowboys

The cowboys sang "Sing as you Ride" every morning before the illustrated message

Cowboy Nate

Cowboy Mike

Riding horses after the illustrated message

Wild Frontier BBQ & Western Show

Most of the gang

Georgie Russel singing "Dav-y! Davy Crocket! King of the Wild Frontier!"

the show was quite hilarious this year

evil Black Bart

Yes, Davy Crocket did escape from the cage and triumphed over his evil enemy =)

The Rodeo

Will Rice IV

It was rather dark in the arena, so most of the pictures turned out too dark or blurry.

Bethany (far right) getting ready to chase the pig

  We all enjoyed the week tremendously, and weather could not have been better, in the high 80s! Except for the Fourth of July, during which it poured all day long! =(  We had tickets for a cookout that morning, but of course, it was canceled. Thankfully, the rain stopped long enough that night to have fireworks. You can't not have fireworks at the Ranch on the 4th! =)